Let the Flames Begin
by Miss Lavender Sky
Summary: Jackie and Hyde, of course. Staying together seems to have drastic consequences for these two, but will staying apart be worse? Set to Paramore's "Let the Flames Begin."
1. Jackie and Steven

**Disclaimer: Of course, I don't own That 70's Show or the characters. Don't own Paramore, their songs, or lyrics. Gosh darn it.**

**A/N: Um. So, I LOVE YOUR REVIEWS! Wow. You guys were awesome on all of the other little short ones I've done so far! YAY! Especially sweetsouthernjerseygal and jackiehyde4eva. You guys are awesomely amazingly awesome! I cannot even say.**

**This is another one of those song-fic-things. "Let the Flames Begin" by Paramore. No Sam, no Fez/Jackie. Just Jackie and Hyde, after they break up. Please review! Oh, and this one will be longer, since I was told to write something longer, gosh darn it! LOL. :D So, this one will be longer! Oh, and I might update "CrushCrushCrush" some more, because I was given that suggestion by sweetsouthernjerseygal! Thanks again, you guys!**

"What a shame we all became, such fragile broken things.

A memory remains, just a tiny spark.

I give it all my oxygen, so let the flames begin.

So let the flames begin. Oh, glory. Oh, glory.

This is how we'll dance when, when they try to take us down.

This is what we'll be. Oh, glory.

Somewhere, weakness is our strength, and I'll die searching for it.

I can't let myself regret such selfishness.

My pain and all the trouble caused, no matter how long.

I believe that there's hope, buried beneath it all and...

Hiding beneath it all and…Growing beneath it all and…

This is how we'll dance when, when they try to take us down.

This is how we'll sing out.

This is how we'll stand when, when they burn our houses down.

This is what we'll be. Oh, glory.

Reaching as I sink down into light. Reaching as I sink down into light.

This is how we dance when, when they try to take us down.

This is how we'll sing out.

This is how we'll stand when, when they burn our houses down.

This is what we'll be. Oh, glory."

_-Paramore, "Let the Flames Begin"_

_Jackie's POV-_

_He's sitting there. I'm sitting here. What does it matter anymore?_

_We're not the same. I know I'm different, different without him._

_He's different too, I can see it._

_Does he miss me too? I can't tell when he sits there with those sunglasses on. I guess that's one thing that never changed. Him and those sunglasses. It was like those sunglasses were all he ever had._

_He had me once too, but he never seemed to care about me as much as those stupid sunglasses. That's what mattered- those glasses, his stupid Zen, and staying cool._

_We haven't talked in months. I've said "hello." He's said "hello." But we haven't talked in months._

_Is that really the end, then?_

_How can it be the end, the end of us?_

_Well, maybe that's how he wants it. Maybe he wanted no reminder of me and him anymore. Maybe he wants to be done with it._

_I'll give him no reminder of us. There is no us anymore, and it's time I start acting like it._

_Steven's POV-_

_She's sitting there. I'm sitting here. Why do I still care so much?_

_Jackie was always supposed to be the strong one. She was the one that could keep her head through anything, even stupid Kelso, and now she's gone and lost it. I can see it when I look at her._

_She's not the same anymore. I don't know how or exactly what, but something's changed, and it's just not Jackie anymore._

_I see her glance over. I glance back, hiding behind my glasses. She hated them, she once told me in a fight, and all they were was a way to hide from people and keep them out._

_She had been right, of course. She was always right about him._

_He was hiding, from her, from what he could no longer have._

_He needed to grow up and start acting properly. When he moped around, she would never get anywhere. They would never get anywhere._

_It was time for him to move on._

_Or at least, for her sake, pretend that that was even possible._

**RECOMMENDATIONS!**

**Here are some recommendations that you HAVE to look at: kezztip's The Little Drummer Girl, jam21's I Want To Hold Your Hand, sevenfoldgate's Untouched, sweetsouthernjerseygal's Grade School Loves, DreamsShapetheWorld's Picnic Gone Wrong, rebeldivaluv's Filling the Gaps, and jackiehyde4eva's I'll Protect You. That's a lot, but these ones are AMAZING, and you totally have to check them out!**


	2. Consequences

**Disclaimer: Of course, I don't own That 70's Show or the characters. Don't own Paramore, their songs, or lyrics. Gosh darn it.**

**A/N: Um. So, I LOVE YOUR REVIEWS! Wow. You guys were awesome on all of the other little short ones I've done so far! YAY! Especially sweetsouthernjerseygal and jackiehyde4eva. You guys are awesomely amazingly awesome! I cannot even say.**

**This is another one of those song-fic-things. "Let the Flames Begin" by Paramore. No Sam, no Fez/Jackie. Just Jackie and Hyde, after they break up. Please review! Oh, and this one will be longer, since I was told to write something longer, gosh darn it! LOL. :D So, this one will be longer! Oh, and I might update "CrushCrushCrush" some more, because I was given that suggestion by sweetsouthernjerseygal! Thanks again, you guys!**

_Jackie wasn't going to give him any more reminders. He didn't want them._

_He thought of her as that strong, independent, loud, argumentative person. He once told her that. He'd also said she was an amazing person, but she didn't think he thought that any more._

_Well, that meant that she served as a reminder to him everyday, the way she was. So she became everything that she wasn't while she was with him._

_She was quieter, and she didn't fight for herself any more. She didn't care if Donna won an argument, or if Steven burned her, or Eric called her the devil. She didn't say a word against any of them._

_Strong. That was a word he used a lot._

_That had to change too._

_What were all the things that made her stronger? Feeling good, looking good, knowing that everyone around her knew this too._

_So she simply forgot about being strong._

_Because he didn't want any reminders._

_One day, as she was walking back down the stairs from her room, the phone rang. She answered. "Hello?"_

_"Jackie, you will leave Steven Hyde alone."_

_Jackie froze at the cold voice. It sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place it. "W-What?" she stammered._

_"You heard me. Stay away from him," the voice said. "Or there will be consequences."_

_The dial tone rang through her mind._

_She wasn't allowed to be around Steven? Who was anyone to tell her that? That was her decision to make, not some stranger who called her up on the phone._

_And why did that stupid phone call even matter? It was probably just some lame prank call, someone with nothing to do._

_So that was it, then. It was just some stupid person without a life. She didn't have to listen to them. It didn't matter. She wouldn't pay attention to that._

_She spent all of the next day with him. Not talking, not doing anything, just sitting in the basement watching TV. Never speaking a word to each other, never acknowledging that the other was there._

_But it was enough for her._

_She stayed there as he left. She didn't know what for, but she heard his car turn on and heard him drive away._

_She walked upstairs. And waited._

_About an hour later, Steven came back, looking flustered._

_"Hey, Hyde, man, what happened?" Eric, who'd just walked into the room, asked._

_"Someone just nearly ran me off the road," he said. He was angry, and a little out of breath. "They were behind me, and then all of a sudden they were trying to pass me by, and then ram into the side of the car." He swore._

_Jackie's eyes went wide._

_"Hey, are you okay, Hyde?" Eric asked._

_"Yeah, but geez. That just totally ruins your day," Steven said. "And they might've chipped some of the paint off. I'll have to wait 'til the morning to check that."_

_Eric nodded consolingly, and the phone rang._

_Jackie, being nearest to the phone, answered it. "Hello?"_

_"I told you there would be consequences," said a voice. "And that was just a warning. I was serious. Stay away from Steven, Jackie," the voice sing-songed eerily._

_Jackie turned white, dropping the phone._

_"Jackie! Jackie! Are you okay?" was all she heard before everything went black._

_And all she saw was Steven's uncaring face as he turned away from her._

**RECOMMENDATIONS!**

**Here are some recommendations that you HAVE to look at: kezztip's The Little Drummer Girl, jam21's I Want To Hold Your Hand, sevenfoldgate's Untouched, sweetsouthernjerseygal's Grade School Loves, DreamsShapetheWorld's Picnic Gone Wrong, rebeldivaluv's Filling the Gaps, and jackiehyde4eva's I'll Protect You. That's a lot, but these ones are AMAZING, and you totally have to check them out!**


	3. A Dial Tone

**Disclaimer: Of course, I don't own That 70's Show or the characters. Don't own Paramore, their songs, or lyrics. Gosh darn it.**

**A/N: Um. So, I LOVE YOUR REVIEWS! Wow. You guys were awesome on all of the other little short ones I've done so far! YAY! Especially sweetsouthernjerseygal and jackiehyde4eva. You guys are awesomely amazingly awesome! I cannot even say.**

**This is another one of those song-fic-things. "Let the Flames Begin" by Paramore. No Sam, no Fez/Jackie. Just Jackie and Hyde, after they break up. Please review! Oh, and this one will be longer, since I was told to write something longer, gosh darn it! LOL. :D So, this one will be longer! Oh, and I might update "CrushCrushCrush" some more, because I was given that suggestion by sweetsouthernjerseygal! Thanks again, you guys!**

_Steven lay awake, thinking._

_He had seen Jackie getting weaker and weaker every day now, and he wondered for the life of him why. Why would she do that to herself?_

_She had always been strong, it was always something he had admired about her. Even way back when she was the snooty cheerleader that was in love with Kelso, she had been strong. Even when they'd gone and broken up, she was strong._

_But now, she wasn't._

_He felt the twinge of hurt, of confusion, of strangeness every time he saw her._

_He saw her weak, and he knew that was because of him. They'd broken up, because he'd made too many mistakes. That was his fault, and it hurt._

_He saw her now, completely and totally different from the Jackie he knew and loved- yes, he still loved her. It was confusing how different she was now._

_And every time he saw her, he couldn't help but think that she was there, and he was here, and there was nothing he could do about it. Thinking about her and that all he ever wanted to do was to hold her, and he couldn't anymore. The strangeness of seeing, but not having was sinking in for him now._

_And he hated it._

_The phone rang. "Hello?" he asked._

_"Stay away from Jackie, Steven," said the voice. "Or there will be consequences."_

_The other person hung up._

_Steven stared at the phone for a moment, then began to laugh, a note of bitterness creeping into his voice._

_That was someone without a life, playing on his emotions. And he wouldn't listen to that._

_The day after the phone call, he'd gone down to the basement. She was there. The phone call from the previous day came briefly in his mind. He laughed it off. It was nothing._

_He sat down in his chair, stealing glances at her from where she sat on the couch._

_Seeing, but not having. It was so hard._

_He'd left an hour ago, nearly getting hit in the process. He swore. He'd been so caught up in thoughts of Jackie that he probably could have forseen that car swerving into the side of his when it did._

_He growled in annoyance when the other car drove off._

_Well, there was nothing to do now but go home._

_He came in, complaining about the near-miss with the unknown driver who drove away so quickly._

_Forman seemed genuinely concerned, which was nice, albeit a little annoying. Jackie didn't say anything, though. She just stood there, eyes getting big like they did when she got scared. He looked at her, concerned, about to ask her if she was alright._

_The phone rang. She answered it. Whoever was on the other line spoke a few words, and Jackie's gasp was audible. She turned pale, and started swaying dangerously. She let the phone drop as she fell._

_Trying so hard to keep his face Zen, he turned to grab her before she hit the floor._

_Once he had successfully gotten her on the couch, he walked back into the kitchen. The phone was rocking back and forth. He shivered, and picked it up, expecting to hear the dial tone._

_"Steven?" came the voice. It reminded him of that of a little girl with a lollipop._

_"Yes?" his reply was stiff and gruff._

_"I told you to stay away from her," said the voice. "I told you there'd be consequences."_

_The dial tone came now, at last._

**RECOMMENDATIONS!**

**Here are some recommendations that you HAVE to look at: kezztip's The Little Drummer Girl, jam21's I Want To Hold Your Hand, sevenfoldgate's Untouched, sweetsouthernjerseygal's Grade School Loves, DreamsShapetheWorld's Picnic Gone Wrong, rebeldivaluv's Filling the Gaps, and jackiehyde4eva's I'll Protect You. That's a lot, but these ones are AMAZING, and you totally have to check them out!**


	4. Change of Heart

**Disclaimer: Of course, I don't own That 70's Show or the characters. Don't own Paramore, their songs, or lyrics. Gosh darn it.**

**A/N: Um. So, I LOVE YOUR REVIEWS! Wow. You guys were awesome on all of the other little short ones I've done so far! YAY! Especially sweetsouthernjerseygal and jackiehyde4eva. You guys are awesomely amazingly awesome! I cannot even say.**

**This is another one of those song-fic-things. "Let the Flames Begin" by Paramore. No Sam, no Fez/Jackie. Just Jackie and Hyde, after they break up. Please review! Oh, and this one will be longer, since I was told to write something longer, gosh darn it! LOL. :D So, this one will be longer! Oh, and I might update "CrushCrushCrush" some more, because I was given that suggestion by sweetsouthernjerseygal! Thanks again, you guys!**

**Oh, and I've come to realize this story slightly resembles sooki28's Cruel To Be Kind, just in the way of the phone calls, and the overall creepiness. It's not the same, and I'm not stealing anything, I just wanna say it sort of resembles it a teeny bit, if you recognize it. Speaking of, read that story, it's brilliant and creepy! It scared me, but I loved it!**

_Jackie woke up on the couch, blinking._

_The couch- what was she doing on the couch? She heard Steven's voice from the kitchen. "Yes?" he said. He sounded angry. He was on the phone._

_Oh, the phone. She involuntarily shuddered. The dang phone. That was what she had gotten so worked up about. The phone and that mysterious person on the other line. The one that said there would be consequences if she stayed around Steven. And there _had_ been consequences. He had almost gotten hit._

_Okay, she would listen to the voice. She didn't know who it was, or what the person was doing, bossing her around like that, telling her to stay away from Steven, nearly hurting Steven._

_But from now on, she would listen to the voice. Because no matter what, she had to protect Steven. If that was all she could do for him now, she would._

_"Hey, Jackie, um, Hyde asked if you were okay?" said Eric, walking in through the kitchen. His face was mingled with concern and confusion._

_She nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." She smiled. "Thanks. Where is Steven?"_

_"He's in the kitchen," Eric said, using his thumb to point in the direction of the kitchen. "Do you wanna go talk to him? I think he's really worried about you."_

_"No, no, I'm fine," said Jackie hurriedly. "I'm just, uh, I'm just gonna go home."_

_She got up quickly- maybe a little too quickly, she realized, as she swayed for a moment- and walked out the front door, leaving for home, determined now to stay as far away from Steven as possible._

_Days had passed by now, and she was going crazy. She wanted to see Steven. It had been four days since she had seen him last. She could barely stand it._

_She was just waiting for an excuse to go to him, to find some reason to be near him again, but the phone call and the voice's words rang clear in her mind._

_So, she could do nothing but wait._

_The phone rang. She dove for it. She was always waiting for the phone to ring, for the strange voice on the other line to tell her that it was okay, she could go back to Steven now._

_"Hello, Jackie," the voice said. "You can go back to Steven now."_

_Jackie breathed a sigh of relief, but she paused for a moment at the end. The voice had taken on a strange tone. The end of the sentence had sounded like the person on the other line was smiling, smiling about a secret only they knew._

_"No," she whispered. "No, you're lying, I can tell. This is a trick."_

_"Jackie," the voice sang. "Go back to him. Or this time, there'll be consequences for you."_

_Jackie laughed bitterly. "So, if I go to him, there'll be consequences for him, but if I don't, there'll be consequences for me?"_

_Jackie could practically hear the smile of the mysterious caller on the other line. "You're a smart one, Jackie. Now, it's your decision. Bye, Jackie."_

_The dial tone sounded so final in her ears as it rang, filling up the whole house, her whole mind, with the sound._

**RECOMMENDATIONS!**

**Here are some recommendations that you HAVE to look at: kezztip's The Little Drummer Girl, jam21's I Want To Hold Your Hand, sevenfoldgate's Untouched, sweetsouthernjerseygal's Grade School Loves, DreamsShapetheWorld's Picnic Gone Wrong, rebeldivaluv's Filling the Gaps, and jackiehyde4eva's I'll Protect You. That's a lot, but these ones are AMAZING, and you totally have to check them out!**


	5. Another Phone Call

**Disclaimer: Of course, I don't own That 70's Show or the characters. Don't own Paramore, their songs, or lyrics. Gosh darn it.**

**A/N: Um. So, I LOVE YOUR REVIEWS! Wow. You guys were awesome on all of the other little short ones I've done so far! YAY! Especially sweetsouthernjerseygal and jackiehyde4eva. You guys are awesomely amazingly awesome! I cannot even say.**

_Steven paced. Four days. Four days had passed since he had last seen Jackie, and he was pacing._

_It was all good and well. Her staying away from made it easier to abide by the rules and stay away from her. He had to keep her safe._

_Whoever, whatever that was on the phone, he had to listen to them. It was too much of a coincidence that Jackie had fainted, and the mysterious caller was on the other line._

_So, he stayed away from her as best he could, even though it was driving him crazy._

_The phone rang. He had begun to dread hearing that phone ring. It brought him thoughts of Jackie, thoughts of her being hurt, thoughts of her suffering, this time indirectly because of him. Him and some stupid caller._

_On the other hand, he heard the phone ring, and he felt his apprehension mingle with hope that maybe this caller will tell him it's okay, it was all a joke, he could see her again now._

_That was what he wanted, what he needed._

_"Hello?" he asked._

_"Steven, it's alright, you can go back to her now." The voice was steady, monotone._

_"What? You're saying- it's- I can go back to her?" he managed._

_"Mhmm." The voice giggled a bit at the end._

_The giggle made him stop. "Wait, why did you laugh? Were you joking?"_

_The giggle came again._

_"You were joking."_

_"Oh, no, I wasn't joking. You _have_ to go back to her," said the voice. "Or there will be consequences for _you_."_

_"So, that's it, then? It's me or her?"_

_"Smart boy." The voice disgusted him._

_"You should already know the answer to that, then," he snapped, hanging up the phone. Well, that was that. He could never let Jackie suffer, never watch her struggle again._

_So that meant that he wouldn't get to see Jackie again. No matter how much he needed it._

**RECOMMENDATIONS!**

**Here are some recommendations that you HAVE to look at: kezztip's The Little Drummer Girl, jam21's I Want To Hold Your Hand, sevenfoldgate's Untouched, sweetsouthernjerseygal's Grade School Loves, DreamsShapetheWorld's Picnic Gone Wrong, rebeldivaluv's Filling the Gaps, and jackiehyde4eva's I'll Protect You. That's a lot, but these ones are AMAZING, and you totally have to check them out!**


	6. Fire and Ice

**A/N: Don't own That 70's Show, or its characters, or Paramore, or their songs and lyrics. This is especially dedicated to jackiehyde4eva, who has been super-awesome and supportive, while writing some kick-butt stories. Go read "I'll Protect You" right now- it's amazing. Please read this, and tell me whatcha think. I'm gonna write more and more soonses. Love you guys! :D**

_Jackie stared at her wall, the same thing she'd been doing for the past hour and a half. There was nothing left for her to do anymore, not without Steven._

_She hadn't really had him for the past eight or nine months, but now she could really feel his absence. The whole situation was trying to give her closure on it all, something she really didn't want._

_The phone rang again. She sighed. "No," she said aloud. "I'm not even going to answer it."_

_She continued to stare at the wall, focusing on keeping her breathing even, ignoring the phone._

_One ring, two rings, three rings, four rings._

_Fiv. Six. Seven. Eight._

_She continued to stare at the wall. The phone went to voicemail, and it echoed throughout her bedroom._

_"Jackie, I know you're there. Pick up the phone." There was a pause. "I know you can hear me, anyways. Well, you've decided, I suppose. You'll stay away from him. You made your decision. Now, I'm here to make it final."_

_A tiny spark lit across the room, and Jackie gasped. The flame grew quicker and quicker, until it was consuming the whole side of one wall. It was growing. The flames were getting closer and closer._

_"Is this what you want?" the voice on the phone screamed at her._

_"No," she whispered, staring at the wall in fear and shock. "No."_

_In an instant, the flames vanished, and everything was back to normal._

_"If you don't want that to happen, then go back to Steven."_

_Another giggle, and then the dial tone rang, consuming the silence like flames._

_Steven was afraid of fire. It was one of the few things he feared, but it was one he feared above all other things, in all shapes and forms._

_He hated the heat in the weather, he hated the heat of a conversation, and he hated the heat of a relationship. He had always feared what it would bring, when a relationship would begin, and the flames would start to form._

_He had faced his fears with Jackie, letting the flames come to him for once. He enjoyed it, but he couldn't live without it. It was like he was addicted to the fire._

_But his addiction only made him fear it more. So once it was gone from his life, the icy exterior returned. The ice kept the fire away._

_And now here it was in front of him again, this conflict of ice and fire, of staying away from Jackie, and keeping her near him. The same battle that always played out in his mind._

_So far, he had chosen the ice. The ice was working best for him on the outside, although it was freezing his heart._

_The phone rang. He was sick of the stupid phone. He came very near to taking it off the hook yesterday. He most certainly was going to today._

_"What do you want?" he answered, his gruff voice clearly annoyed._

_"Oh, Steven, I'm glad you answered," spoke the little voice. It seemed genuinely pleased to here from him._

_"What do you want?" he repeated._

_"I just wanted to know if this was your final decision."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"Have you decided to stay away from Jackie?" The voice was sickeningly sweet._

_"Yes, okay?" he half-shouted. "Because that's all I can do to make sure you stay away from her too."_

_"Okay, just checking. Now, it's your turn to deal with the consequences."_

_A spark flickered on the opposite corner of the basement, and Steven froze. The whole wall was lit up in three seconds flat._

_"Is this some kind of sick joke?" he asked._

_There was a giggle._

_He raced to the door. Locked. Of course._

_He stood there, watching the flames grow higher and higher, his feet locked in place._

_He always thought he would've been good in emergencies, but not with fire. Not with fire._

_"No." His voice was torn._

_The flames vanished sooner than they had appeared._

_"Go back to Jackie, or there'll be more fire to play with, Steven," the voice sang out._

_The dial tone rang deep through his bones, ice-cold._

**RECOMMENDATIONS!**

**Here are some recommendations that you HAVE to look at: kezztip's The Little Drummer Girl, jam21's I Want To Hold Your Hand, sevenfoldgate's Untouched, sweetsouthernjerseygal's Grade School Loves, DreamsShapetheWorld's Picnic Gone Wrong, rebeldivaluv's Filling the Gaps, and jackiehyde4eva's I'll Protect You. That's a lot, but these ones are AMAZING, and you totally have to check them out!**


	7. Step Into the Fire

**A/N: Don't own That 70's Show, or its characters, or Paramore, or their songs and lyrics. This is especially dedicated to jackiehyde4eva, who has been super-awesome and supportive, while writing some kick-butt stories. Go read "I'll Protect You" right now- it's amazing. Please read this, and tell me whatcha think. I'm gonna write more and more soonses. Love you guys! :D**

__

_They showed up somewhere in between Donna and Eric's driveways, Jackie coming from her mansion and Steven from the Forman's basement. They were both out of breath, but they looked at each other with intensity._

_ "Steven."_

_ "Jackie."_

_ The words came out in a tumble, so that neither knew who had spoken first._

_ The two of them just stared at one another, watching as the last few months seemed to replay in their minds._

_ There was so much to say. There was too much to say._

_ They kissed, all the words waiting to be said exploding into that moment. _

* * *

_ Time froze, and so did he._

_ Jackie pulled apart suddenly, licking her lips were the sting of the ice had hit them._

_ She looked at Steven and gasped. He was completely and totally frozen, from head to toe. His blue eyes sparkled, staring at her, taunting her, hurting her._

_ "Steven," she whispered. She tried to touch his arm, now turning a pale blue color. She yanked her hand back from him._

_ It was like he had hurt her, like being with him had hurt her too. That made sense. The two of them together caused them both damage. She was always being stung by it, hurt by the iciness of it all, but she always went back for more, just waiting to be stung, to be hurt again._

_ And ever since they'd broken up, this was how he'd been. Frozen to her, icy cold, and painful to be near._

_ This was how the two of them were now: he was always icy-cold, and ready to sting her, and she was always left on the outside, waiting to be stung._

--

_ The kiss should've felt like fire._

_ It was the thing he'd hated most, that fire, but something Jackie had made him come to love._

_ But this kiss felt like ice._

_ He opened his eyes. Jackie was frozen, inaccessible to him, just like now._

_ He couldn't stand to look at her, to see the pain that she was in. She was stuck, unable to move from the spot that his kiss had left her._

_ Jackie couldn't move on from him, or she wouldn't move on, he wasn't sure which. He wanted her to, so bad, to live her life away from him, successful and happy, like she deserved. She didn't need to be here, waiting for him, waiting for the life that she deserved better than._

_ And yet she stayed, waiting for him, frozen in the past when he so badly wanted her to move on._

_ She was frozen, too, so that he could not have her back. He couldn't take her back, not after all he'd done to her. He refused to let her suffer again, even if that meant he had to watch her from far away for the rest of his life._

_ She was frozen in time, and he was stuck outside. _

* * *

_ They turned away from each other, walking back towards their houses._

_ Jackie saw her bedroom doorway, and saw the flames that reached on the opposite wall._

_ She sighed. It was either Steven frozen, or her burning._

_ Steven looked into the basement from the doorframe. The wall behind the T.V. was on fire._

_ It was either a life of watching Jackie frozen, or him facing his fear of fire._

_ They both looked at the flame, said a silent prayer, and stepped into the fire, hoping for the best for one another._  


**RECOMMENDATIONS!**

**Here are some recommendations that you HAVE to look at: kezztip's The Little Drummer Girl, jam21's I Want To Hold Your Hand, sevenfoldgate's Untouched, sweetsouthernjerseygal's Grade School Loves, DreamsShapetheWorld's Picnic Gone Wrong, rebeldivaluv's Filling the Gaps, and jackiehyde4eva's I'll Protect You. That's a lot, but these ones are AMAZING, and you totally have to check them out!**


	8. Conscious Love

**A/N: Don't own That 70's Show, or its characters, or Paramore, or their songs and lyrics. This is especially dedicated to jackiehyde4eva, who has been super-awesome and supportive, while writing some kick-butt stories. Go read "I'll Protect You" right now- it's amazing. Please read this, and tell me whatcha think. This is the end of it, so I'd love some reviews! Love you guys! :D**

__

_Jackie felt the sudden rush of heat as she stepped into the flames, but it wasn't as intense as she thought it would be. It didn't hurt, didn't sting, didn't burn. It wasn't going to kill her._

_ She opened her eyes. All was normal is her room again. She laid down on her bed and closed her eyes, then opened them again._

_ She had to go see Steven._

_ Steven had kept his mind relatively calm. It was for Jackie, all of this. And that was all that mattered to him anymore._

_ A death by fire, by willingly stepping into flames was terrible and mind-bogglingly terrifying._

_ But a life without Jackie was absolutely unbearable._

_ The fire didn't hurt. He didn't feel any pain, just a slight rush of warmth as he envisioned the flames enveloping him._

_ But he was fine. When he opened his eyes, the flames were all gone. Everything was going to be fine._

_ He slumped down onto the sofa, closing his eyes in thought. Only a moment later, he opened them, jumped up, and ran to the Burkhart Mansion._

_ He had to find Jackie._

_ They met up at her driveway. It was mind-numbingly cold outside, but they didn't care._

_ Now they could see each other, could finally look at the other without fear of hurt, pain, or heartache._

_ "Jackie, I-"_

_ "No, Steven, I have to say something."_

_ They stared at each other for a moment, before Steven realized that she was shivering. "Come on, Jackie," he said. "Let's get you inside."_

_ She smiled gratefully, and the two of them walked into her mansion, enjoying a rush of warm air as they stepped inside the house._

_ They sat on the couch, and Jackie sat in front of the warm fire in her living room, Steven opting to stay on the couch. His recent run-in with fire made him more wary._

_ "Jackie, I have to tell you something," he said._

_ "No, Steven." She said. Her voice had the tone of finality that made him listen. "I have to tell you something."_

_ He sat there, taking in every word she said, listening as she described the past few days. "It all started on Tuesday," she said. "The day before you almost got hurt in that car accident."_

_ He nodded. He remembered that. That was the day he had gotten the phone call, the one that had completely messed with his life for the past few days._

_ "And then someone called me, and they said to leave you alone, but I couldn't, and then, then you came home like that, and I couldn't take it. And then they called again, and, and-" She was trying to get the words out, but she could barely say it all._

_ "And so I had to stay away from you, and I did, and there were flames. And-and." She hiccupped._

_ Steven nodded. It was the same story. He told her about what he'd gone through, his voice staying cold and hard the whole time._

_ He got quiet. "And then I couldn't hurt you anymore. I went back, and the flames were there…"_

_ She nodded, walking over to him, and sitting beside him on the couch._

_ "And so I walked in, and they were gone, and I had to come find you."_

_ She nodded, smiling, a sob making her smile a bit more._

_ "All I know is that ever since Tuesday, I've been going crazy thinking about you," Steven said._

_ Jackie nodded, cuddling up in his arms. "You know," she said quietly. "It's Sunday, so Mrs. Forman will probably have made something yummy for dinner."_

_ Steven smiled. "Mhmm. That sounds like a good idea. I'm hungry."_

_ They sat there for a few minutes, waiting before they got up and drove to the Forman's house._

_ Suddenly, the door burst open. It was a very angry Fez. "Excuse me!" he said, interrupting the two of them._

_ "Did we or did we not have plans to meet up today?" he demanded._

_ Jackie and Steven stared at him. "What are you talking about, Fez?" Steven asked._

_ "You said that we were going to the movies today!" he shouted._

_ "No, I didn't," Steven said, confused._

_ "Yes, you did. You said, 'Fez, let's go to the movies on Tuesday, because there's supposed to be a good one on.' I remember because you told me there was a very pretty girl in it!" Fez said._

_ "Fez, it's Sunday," said Jackie._

_ "What are you talking about? It's Tuesday!" he shouted again._

_ "It's Tuesday? That means-" Jackie and Steven both looked at each other, a look of realization crossing their faces._

_ They both remembered closing their eyes before they came here, on the couch, on the bed, like they had been sleeping._

_ A dream. It was all a dream._

_ "Sorry, Fez," Steven said slowly. "We'll have to go a different day. Sorry to cancel."_

_ "Well, we better go soon, Hyde!" he shouted, smiling at the two of them, and leaving the house._

_ "So, Steven, does that really mean we were dreaming everything?" Jackie asked slowly._

_ "I-I think so," he said._

_ "But I don't understand how we could've had the exact same dream," Jackie said._

_ "I think it's like we're connected," he said, smiling down at her again. It was what she wanted to hear, but it was also what made the most sense to him right now._

_ "I like that," she said. "Like our conscious wanted us to be together." She laughed. "So, are we still going to the Forman's for dinner?"_

_ "Yeah," he said. "But I want to make a stop first. I think there's a ring at the jewelry store calling your name."_

_ She grinned up at him, her eyes sparkling with tears. "Really, Steven? You would?"_

_ He looked down at her, the same wild grin plastered on his face. "Of course, Jackie." He kissed the top of his forehead. "After all, if our conscious wants us to be together…"_

_ She laughed, and he joined her._  


**RECOMMENDATIONS!**

**Here are some recommendations that you HAVE to look at: kezztip's The Little Drummer Girl, jam21's I Want To Hold Your Hand, sevenfoldgate's Untouched, sweetsouthernjerseygal's Grade School Loves, DreamsShapetheWorld's Picnic Gone Wrong, rebeldivaluv's Filling the Gaps, and jackiehyde4eva's I'll Protect You. That's a lot, but these ones are AMAZING, and you totally have to check them out!**


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